The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 685 Test a resounding success! Jedi Rangers!
"So you admit it! You were the one who caused all of this?"

"A new service for building dreams? A loyalty tester?"

"Dream machines have this ability? To check brainwaves and determine if a partner is cheating?"

"Where is the entry point? I can't see it. I might need it too..."

……

After a moment of confusion, netizens immediately connected Xu Meng's post with the current "gossip storm" sweeping the entire internet and made "reasonable" speculations.

This has caused concern among many netizens and experts.

"If dream-making machines can read minds, what privacy do people have left? Is the safety of their private property still guaranteed?"

Xu Meng shook her head and picked out a few comments from netizens to reply to:
"Of course I didn't do it! I just don't know why, but I feel like my merits keep increasing even though I'm just lying at home doing nothing."

"Don't believe those illiterate experts. Dream-building machines and brain-computer interfaces study the control of brain waves on the body and nerves. They are completely different from lie detectors and have nothing to do with mind reading."

"The new feature is still in testing. If you don't see the entry point, it means you don't need it for now. Forget about it and focus on playing the game."

……

After replying to a few important messages, Xu Meng looked at the guy who had asked for a function to test his partner's loyalty and sympathetically sent him a cuckold emoji.

—This guy's hunch was right.

His girlfriend did cheat on him, and even publicly posted photos of her and the other woman on social media.

Xiaomeng glanced at his publicly known online relationships and quickly figured out the whole story.

Xu Meng's reply successfully brought the topic back on track.

A group of people also sent the guy hat emojis out of sympathy...

Of course, some people, seeing Xu Meng answering questions, kept asking him questions, wanting to know more inside information—

What features is Zhumeng testing?
Why are there so many rumors about infidelity and cheating?
When will this feature be made available to everyone?

……

Xu Meng did not respond to these questions.

Instead, like many other netizens, they enthusiastically browsed social media to follow the gossip.

This gossip storm did not end with Xu Meng's statement; instead, it intensified.

For the next few days, these gossips continued to emerge until they gradually subsided a week later.

Netizens enjoyed the show, while entertainment agencies, MCN organizations, online trolls, and entertainment media were all scrambling to keep up with the demand.

It looked like a huge event.

But in reality, it had absolutely no impact on Zhu Meng and Xu Meng.

Xu Meng's objective—a secret, large-scale, cross-national and cross-racial cyber bed test—proceeded extremely smoothly without encountering any obstacles.

There were absolutely no obstacles, whether technical or procedural, or social or public opinion.

It couldn't be smoother.

The test results were also very satisfactory.

Nearly 10 million people have had their restrictions lifted, and more than 8 million people have engaged in virtual sex, averaging no less than three times a day, without experiencing any serious side effects.

Neither physiologically nor psychologically.

Only a very small number of users reported that after having sex with their spouse/partner in the virtual world, their sensory threshold seemed to increase, and they were no longer as enthusiastic about intimacy in real life as they used to be.

But it didn't reach the level of erectile dysfunction (ED).

This is not a serious problem.

In the virtual world, players can do whatever they want outside an open-air forest cabin;

Stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the skyscraper and enjoy the stunning night view of the entire cyber city.

To be able to return to 18 years old and have sex with a lover who has regained their youthful appearance and body;

……

Compared to this experience, which is full of psychological and sensory stimulation, intimacy in a real bedroom inevitably pales in comparison.

It's perfectly normal to not be in a great mood.

There's absolutely no need to make a fuss.

We also conducted an extreme test on the [Rejuvenation] function – when users were extremely excited, their brainwave activity far exceeded that of a normal state.

This large-scale test also allowed Xu Meng to explore the server stress level under extreme conditions.

The result was: there was no pressure.

The potential of photonic topology server arrays is still unfathomable!
Speaking of this, the concerns expressed by some netizens and experts online are not entirely unfounded—

They worry that Dream Weaver could use a dream-making machine to read minds, leading to the leakage of their privacy—especially their bank card passwords—and consequently, damage to their private property.

The idea of ​​"mind reading" is indeed unreasonable.

Even if the National Security Agency uses a dream-making machine to trick spies, it's still about creating a dream to confuse the spy's perception, causing them to make wrong judgments, thus verifying their guesses, or even making them reveal key information themselves.

We are still a very, very long way from directly reading the brain's thoughts.

This worry is indeed unnecessary.

But their bank card PINs...

For Xu Meng, who has access to photonic topology server arrays, this is certainly no secret.

This isn't even news.

When Xu Meng used T-coin, a cryptocurrency issued by the US president, to pay during the high seas robbery, it stirred up a hidden storm in the global financial field.

They didn't know how Xu Meng did it, but they all realized that the current financial system posed a huge risk.

But they dared not make a fuss.

It wasn't that I was afraid of Xu Meng, but that I was afraid of scaring ordinary people.

If everyone believes that the financial system is unsafe and at risk of collapse, it will almost certainly trigger a catastrophic financial collapse.

Therefore, we can only try to strengthen security measures in every possible way.

But what happened next?

Their brand-new encryption method was still in the conceptual stage, while Xu Meng's server had already been upgraded to the next generation.

If their previous concern was that the firewall of the financial system might not be able to stop Xu Meng, then...

After the Dream Building server was upgraded, their worries completely died.

Helplessly, he accepted the reality that his firewall was just a thin layer of paper, and that all data, records, information, and passwords were completely unprotected by Xu Meng.

Then, it started to feel like they were giving up entirely.

They no longer get anxious or work overtime frantically to push for progress.

My mindset has changed to: anyway, even if I upgrade, it might not be able to stop it, so let's just take it slow.

Therefore, bank card passwords are indeed at high risk.

However, the good news is:

Xu Meng was not interested in their savings.

He prefers to use this massive server computing power to do more interesting things, such as—

A major update to the universe beyond digital planets!

While paying attention to the results of the Cyber ​​Rolling Bed Test and playing "Animal Kingdom" on her live stream, Xu Meng also kept up with the latest developments in this area.

After this update, players' explorable area will be officially pushed to the edge of the galaxy.

Of course, players aren't that quick to react yet.

In the previous [Reclaim Space] battle, most of the spacecraft that players built were not capable of supporting galactic-level long-distance travel and did not yet have the ability to independently travel to the edge of the galaxy and confront the metal undead.

The farthest point that can be reached so far is Titan, where Deeprock Mining Company is located.

However, upon arriving on Titan, some astute players quickly discovered a way to reach the edge of the galaxy—

The "Renaissance Three Brothers" – Fantasia, Raphael, and Agnosticus – are always very busy during the first week of each month.

They always experience and analyze the updated content of Dream Building as soon as possible, and try to find some new business opportunities from it.

They've now gained some fame in the "boss-manager" circle. They're never short of orders.

However, there were only three of them, and their energy was limited. It was not worthwhile for them to do those low-priced, high-volume orders, so they were always looking for opportunities with high profits.

Fortunately, the virtual world is vast enough, and the update speed of Dream Building is astonishing enough, so such opportunities are everywhere.

In just a few months, they earned the salary they would have earned in their regular jobs over several years.

As a result, they all gave up their original jobs and became full-time employees.

After this update, they immediately rushed to Titan to look for opportunities.

The journey itself is already a huge reward for the players.

Especially when you're almost there.

When boarding the ship in Yaiyuan Town, the densely packed small houses of the town made the Deep Rock Mining Company's transport ship look like an absolute behemoth.

After boarding, the spaceship's spacious central activity area and layered passenger cabins further reinforced this impression.

But when they reached the final stretch of the journey, the players stood in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, watching the massive, magnificent, and silent Saturn fill the entire window and crash into their field of vision. They were all captivated and almost lost their ability to speak.

I could only stare blankly at this magnificent, cosmic spectacle, my mind completely blank.

I even felt a strong cognitive shock—

This spaceship, which seemed incredibly huge in our minds, was nothing more than a tiny boat compared to Saturn; at best, it was just a speck of dust.

At this very moment, I am but a speck of dust on this speck of dust.

So insignificant.

The impact was intense and prolonged, and many people only awoke as if from a dream when the spaceship flew over Titan and was completely obscured by Titan's shadow.

They only had time to cast a fleeting glance at the satellite before the spacecraft transported them directly to the Deep Rock Mining Company's base.

The moment he stepped off the spaceship, Fantach exclaimed in surprise, "These dwarves are amazing!"

His two good brothers looked at him in confusion.

"You all know, right? Titan is actually Saturn's moon Titan."

"Titan is so far from the sun that the average surface temperature should be -180 degrees Celsius!"

"Do you feel cold now?"

His reminder made Raphael and the not-so-chalcero belatedly realize: "Oh yeah, it's not cold at all, it even seems a little warm?"

“That’s right! So… either their base is consuming huge amounts of energy for heating, or the entire planet has been terraformed!” Fantach said, expressing his thoughts.

"Considering they are still in the midst of war and have a great need for supplies, I highly suspect it is the latter!"

His guess was quickly confirmed.

The reception staff at Deeprock Mining headquarters—six bearded dwarves—came up to them and led them into six groups to their respective lodging areas.

For players, the accommodation area is their respawn point.

So no matter what your reasons are for coming here, just obediently join the group and follow along.

The three Fender brothers were the same; they followed a dwarf named Opalon.

The dwarf was dressed in overalls, with two huge tool belts hanging from his waist, which was as thick as a bucket. The belts were filled with large wrenches, pliers, and all sorts of tools that the players didn't recognize. He didn't look like a receptionist at all; he looked more like someone who had been temporarily dragged from the factory to help out.

His explanation was also very unprofessional.

But the startling information he revealed made up for that—

"When the company arrived on this planet, it was an extremely cold hell, completely unsuitable for life."

"So we reignited the core of this planet."

"Now, without needing to invest more resources, it will release heat continuously on its own."

"Not only can it transform the planet's environment, but it can also provide a continuous source of energy for our factories!"

"Of course, as a price, the lifespan of this planet will be greatly shortened, perhaps by two or three billion years, but..."

"Who cares?"

"If we can't stop the metal necromancers, we'll all perish together in a few hundred years. Who cares about things hundreds of millions of years from now?"

The players looked down in astonishment, as if they could see through the metal floor and over 2000 kilometers of land to the burning core of the planet.

The idea of ​​"igniting the core of a planet" sounds absolutely astonishing!

As for what will happen hundreds of millions of years from now, no one took it to heart at all.

—It's just background story, it's not important.

Even the metal necromancers didn't take it seriously.

—It's just weird! A piece of junk!
However, while everyone was asking how the dwarves "ignited the planet's core," Fantach was more interested in finding out about the metal necromancers.

After all, that could very well be their main opponent going forward.

Before he could even ask a question, his attention was drawn to the large screens on the walls on both sides of the corridor—

On the big screen, a group of dwarfs were operating heavy equipment amidst the bright molten steel, making a clanging and clattering sound as they produced the steel.

Amidst the busy workers, a dwarf with dark red hair held a small barrel, chugging down strong liquor while clanging and banging on a piece of steel.

When he used large iron clamps to clamp the steel and send it onto the large stamping machine, he stumbled and fell onto the base platform along with the red-hot steel.

Thousands of tons of steel crashed down with a loud bang.

Blood splattered everywhere!
The drunken dwarf instantly transformed into a "2D paper doll".

The screen then froze, and two lines of large text appeared:

[Improper production practices bring tears to loved ones' eyes!]
[For safety, please refrain from drinking alcohol!]
"Ah, this..." Fanta and the other two were dumbfounded.

Just as I was about to complain, the image on the screen changed again—

As the image of the planet viewed from space unfolds, a voice slowly rises:
"Our world".

"Prosperity, freedom, happiness."

The camera jumps to the ground, showing a clean, tidy, warm and harmonious residential area.

A dwarf in a uniform, clean and tidy from head to toe, strolled among them carrying a barrel of wine, drinking as he went.

Upon seeing the fully armed dwarf warriors patrolling the roadside, they even raised their glasses in a gesture of greeting.

The two dwarf warriors also took wine jugs from their waists and raised their cups in the distance.

Turning around, he greeted a mother and child playing in front of his house: "Hello!"

The mother and child then got up to greet him.

But at that moment, he suddenly turned to the camera and said, "But freedom comes at a price."

In a sudden turn of the camera, a skeleton with eyes burning with crimson flames and a body forged from black steel bursts into the frame and cuts the mother and child down with a single blow!
The dwarf dropped his wine jug in terror, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees, crying out in despair, "No!!!"

The blood of the dwarf mother and child splattered on his uniform, making the scene look even more desperate.

When Fanta and the other two saw this scene, their expressions immediately turned ugly.

This evil metal necromancer doesn't even spare children?!

But before they could say anything, the screen suddenly froze, and the words "Undead Invasion" appeared in large letters.

At the same time, the dwarf in the scene, screaming in despair and covered in blood, once again walked neatly to the front of the still image, smiling and saying to the camera:

"Look familiar?"

"Such scenes are playing out in the galaxy every moment!"

"You could be next!"

"Unless... you can make the most important decision of your life!"

He raised his fist, and the next second he put on the full set of combat armor that had just appeared in the scene.

"Prove to everyone that you have the power and courage to pursue freedom!"

"join in--"

"The ranks of the Hell Rangers!"

(End of this chapter)